Columbia County has been playing fast-pitch softball less than two decades. Despite that, the county now boasts several of the premier programs in the state.

That certainly was not the case in the beginning. As a matter of fact, when they first began, our programs were so far behind some of the Atlanta schools it seemed like they would never be able to seriously contend in the sport statewide. I remember having discussions back in the late ’90s with some of the area coaches about what it would take to make them competitive.

Columbia County has always taken a back seat to some of the surrounding areas when it came to basketball. However, Saturday’s CSRA All-Star Classic proved the gap is slowly closing.

The event was held at Paine College’s HEAL Athletic Complex and featured four games. The middle school girls played first, followed by the middle school boys contest. By the second half of game No. 2, the gym, which seats 2,400, was full to capacity and the fire marshall would not let anyone else in the venue.

In the 2014 major league baseball draft, the Tampa Bay Rays surprised some when they selected Brent Honeywell out of Walters State Community College in Alabama with the 72nd overall pick. After all, he was only ranked the 195th best prospect by Baseball America and he did not even crack MLB.com’s Top 200. He was also one year removed from having gone completely undrafted coming out of high school.

Lakeside’s B.J. Raymond has committed to play football next season at Savannah State. The 5-10, 165-pound standout closed out his prep career as a first team All-County performer after catching 32 passes for 602 yards and three touchdowns.

Earlier this week, former Lakeside standout Kody Belcher was named the Peach Belt Athletic Conference Player of the Week. The senior led University of South Carolina Aiken to a 3-1 mark for the week, by hitting .500 and slugging at an amazing 1.188 clip.

He opened the week with a double, two RBI, and three runs scored in a 12-4 win over Paine College. He followed that up with the best game of his career in the opener of a three game series vs. UNC-Pembroke. Belcher tied USC-Aiken marks with three homers and eight RBI (he also doubled) in a 24-6 Pacer blowout.

The Peach Belt Conference is widely considered one of the top, if not the top, baseball conferences in D-II in the entire nation. Therefore, Peach Belt programs are able to bring in players from all over the country. Each week the conference hands out three awards, including “Freshman of the Week.”

With such a large talent pool, it would be difficult for even one state to garner over 50 percent of the winners, much less one county. However, that is exactly what Columbia County has done, thus far in 2015.

Former Augusta Christian star Josh Whitaker will begin the 2015 baseball season with the Nashville Sound, a triple A affiliate of the Oakland A’s.

Whitaker, who led the Lions to three straight state titles between 2005-2007, is coming off a tremendous season in 2014. He began the year at AA Midland and quickly established himself as one of the top hitters in the Texas League. In 51 games with Midland, Whitaker hit .320 with nine homers, 11 doubles, and 42 RBI.